


By the Book

by brightblackholes



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: I'm kind of digging this theater au, M/M, Theater AU, high school au??? or college idk, might expand on it at some point, romeo and juliet - Freeform, we'll see we'll see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-21 00:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11932320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightblackholes/pseuds/brightblackholes
Summary: "Webster isn’t worried about proving himself right.  As the stage manager for this production, he had to take notes on all of the blocking for the show, and has been there since the beginning of rehearsals.  Shakespeare has always come easily to him, and he already readRomeo and Julietmultiple times in 9th grade as part of his literature course.  He could say these lines in his sleep.Getting up on stage, the only thing that mildly concerns him is Liebgott."





	By the Book

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a malec fic that my friend sent me on tumblr that I can no longer find, but sometimes, you just need some webgott with some Romeo and Juliet, you feel?
> 
> This is based solely off of the portrayals in the HBO show, and no offense is meant to the actual veterans.

It’s the opening night for _Romeo and Juliet_ , t-minus 75 minutes until the curtain goes up, and Rene just went home with a high fever and stomach bug. Webster doesn’t think he’s ever seen the theater in this much panic, and he was around when they tried to do Sondheim with an incompetent music director. Currently, the girl they have designated as the understudy Juliet is staring at Joseph Liebgott like he is about to murder her, which he just might if this keeps going as badly as it is. The fact of the matter is that she knows absolutely none of the lines or the blocking, and seems to have stage fright on top of it.

“F-for pilgrims--”

“For _saints_ ,” Liebgott hisses, loud enough for Webster to hear him from the back. “‘For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch.’ You’re supposed to be over here by now or you’ll push us out of our light.”

“Sorry,” she squeaks, looking on the verge of tears.

“Dear Lord, this is painful,” Webster says. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Dick nod grimly.

“I didn’t expect her to be perfect, but this…” he trails off, and Webster turns to see him exchange a glance with Nix.

“Isn’t there anyone else we could put up there?” he asks. Dick shakes his head.

“For the first time in our history, we’re low on girls. All of them are already playing a supporting role or multiple ensemble ones. I really thought that she would have taken her role as understudy more seriously than this when I cast her as it,” he says. Webster looks back at the trainwreck onstage. They’re still stuck on the same line, with Liebgott whispering it to her over and over and her repeating it back wrong.

“Is she even processing what she’s saying?” he asks, disgusted.

“Even if we had the technology, I don’t think feeding her lines through bluetooth would work because she’d just mix them up,” Nix says. Webster deflates. He was really hoping that Nix would be able to piece together something like that. As the technical director, he’s very good and using their resources to fix problems.

Liebgott puts his hand up for the next part of the blocking and shakes it a few times when she doesn’t respond. Finally, he grabs her hand and puts it up next to his, palm to palm.

“This is ridiculous!” Webster exclaims. “Even I have the blocking and lines memorized better.”

He must have said that a bit louder than he thought, because suddenly all eyes turn towards him, including those onstage.

“Why don’t you do it, then?” the understudy exclaims, and David is alarmed to see that now she really is crying. “I obviously can’t, so go on Webster, take my place and save the show!” Then she runs offstage.

“Oh dear,” Dick says.

“I’ve got her,” Lipton says, and promptly leaves his spot in the light booth to follow the wayward actress and calm her down.

“Are you happy now?” Liebgott demands from the stage. “It’s your fault if we have to cancel the damn show now!”

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true,” he shoots back, although he really would have prefered for the understudy to not hear his statement.

“Prove it then,” Liebgott challenges.

“Excuse me?” Webster asks.

“If you’ve got the whole fucking play memorized, get up here and prove it.”

Webster looks to Dick, who sighs.

“Might as well. We don’t have any other options right now,” he sighs. Nix raises his eyebrows. Webster sets his jaw and starts marching towards the stage.

“Fine,” he says, climbing onto it.

Webster isn’t worried about proving himself right. As the stage manager for this production, he had to take notes on all of the blocking for the show, and has been there since the beginning of rehearsals. Shakespeare has always come easily to him, and he already read _Romeo and Juliet_ multiple times in 9th grade as part of his literature course. He could say these lines in his sleep.

Getting up on stage, the only thing that mildly concerns him is Liebgott.

When Webster looked at the cast list and saw that Liebgott had gotten Romeo, he thought for sure that Dick had made a mistake. Even though the student-directed productions, such as this one, which Dick put together as his final for his directing class, usually bring in less actors, the department still has plenty of guys who would do well in the role. Liebgott’s fiery temper and devilish smirk made him the obvious choice for Tybalt, but that role had gone to a newcomer named Ronald Speirs, and when questioned Dick just said that he thought Liebgott could bring a different dynamic to Romeo, and that it would be a challenge for him as an actor.

Watching the production develop, Webster couldn’t help but grow to agree. Liebgott’s Romeo is just as love-sick as any other, but he’s more irritated by his heartbreak, and his shift from wanting to make peace with Tybalt to killing him over the death of Mercutio is so believable that Webster’s eyes welled with tears when he watched the scene for the first time. He can be unimaginably tender in the quiet scenes, and he plays off of Babe and Grant so naturally that every Romeo/Mercutio/Benvolio scene is dynamic and engaging.

Webster is also mature enough to admit that his small crush on Liebgott may have grown a bit during production. What can he say? There’s nothing hotter than a good-looking guy who can act.

Webster just hopes that he doesn’t let that get in the way of proving to everyone including Liebgott that he was completely right when he said he knew the blocking and lines.

“Where are we starting?” he asks when he gets onstage. Liebgott smirks, then his expression softens, and he becomes Romeo: enchanted, flirty, and a little bit reverent.

“‘If I profane with my unworthiest hand/This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:/My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand/ To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.’” He takes a step closer, and Webster steps back. He smiles a bit, playing coy.

“‘Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,/Which mannerly devotion shows in this,/For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,/And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss,’” he replies. He starts to raise his hand, and Liebgott meets him halfway, pressing their palms together. His hand is warm, and Webster lets himself feel a little of everything that Juliet would: anticipation, excitement, wonder, and a little fear.

“‘Have saints not lips, and holy palmers, too?’” Liebgott asks, then begins to lean in. Webster uses his free hand to bring a finger to his lips, stopping him.

“‘Aye, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.’” Webster steps back, letting their hands drop. Liebgott looks at a loss for words for a moment (which is how Webster knows he’s a good actor, since that look has never crossed Liebgott’s face before the first time they blocked this scene). Webster raises his eyebrows, unimpressed, then moves as if to pass Liebgott, who reaches out and stops him with a hand in his.

“‘O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do./They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.’”

Webster looks down at their hands, where Liebgott is gently tracing each of his fingers with his own, then back up at Liebgott’s face. All of his attention is on Webster. He swallows.

“‘Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.’”

Webster has heard the next line a hundred times, but never this soft, and never when Liebgott’s eyes are flicking down to his lips as he says it.

“‘Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take.’” Liebgott leans in again, and this time Webster doesn’t stop him. His breath hitches (if anyone notices he’ll just say he was acting, but it’s not the truth), and he lets his eyes flutter shut as Liebgott’s lips meet his. The kiss is short and chaste, and when Liebgott leans back again he brings a thumb to skirt over Webster’s cheekbone.

“‘Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged,’” Liebgott says softly. Webster has a moment of panic where he is too distracted by everything that just happened to remember the next line, but then Liebgott smiles and it comes rushing back to him. He smiles, too.

“‘Then have my lips the sin that they have took?’” he says lightly, teasingly, fondly. Liebgott’s smile splits into a grin.

“‘Sin from thy lips?’” he laughs. “‘O trespass sweetly urged!/Give me my sin again.’” This time, when Liebgott leans in, Webster meets him halfway. Liebgott’s hands move to cup his neck, and Webster grabs a fistfull of shirt to have something to hang on to. He has never been more upset to have Dick interrupt a scene, but when he and Liebgott finally separate he’s pleased to see that the other boy seems just as reluctant as him.

“Web, go see Shifty in costumes. Tell him you’re going on as Juliet tonight,” Dick says.

“I am?” Webster asks.

“Yes, you are. You know everything and that scene was flawless. We need you.”

“You gonna dress him up like a girl?” Liebgott asks dubiously.

“In Shakespeare’s time, all of the girl characters were just guys in dresses,” Nix chimes in from the back.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Dick says. “No need to add the extra hassle of trying to disguise his gender. We’ll stick to the script as written and as rehearsed, so all moments where Juliet is referred to as a girl will remain, but Juliet herself will be a boy. Tell Shifty to get you some pants and a shirt. I’ll make an announcement at notes. Set the stage for the opening and let’s get going.”

Dick claps his hands once and everyone disbands to perform their tasks. Just as he’s about to leave, Webster is stopped by a voice.

“Hey Web, you’re a better kisser than a thought you would be,” Liebgott calls. Webster’s heart rate doubles at the implication that Liebgott has thought about kissing him before, but when he turns around it’s with a smirk on his face, because the other boy really walked into this one.

“Well, Joe,” he says, “you kiss by the book.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This fic can be found on tumblr [here](https://band-of-bros.tumblr.com/post/164625993515/this-was-inspired-by-a-malec-fic-that-my-friend) if you want to reblog it!


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